2202HERRORTier 2 — Caution✅ HIGH confidence

invalid tablesample argument

Category: Data ExceptionVersions: Postgres 9.5+

What this means

SQLSTATE 2202H is raised when a TABLESAMPLE clause receives an invalid argument — for example, a sampling percentage outside the range 0–100 for BERNOULLI or SYSTEM sampling.

Why it happens

1Using a sampling percentage less than 0 or greater than 100 in TABLESAMPLE BERNOULLI or TABLESAMPLE SYSTEM

How to reproduce

TABLESAMPLE with an invalid percentage.

trigger — this will ERROR

SELECT * FROM large_table TABLESAMPLE BERNOULLI(150);

ERROR: sample percentage must be between 0 and 100

Fix 1: Use a sampling percentage between 0 and 100

When using TABLESAMPLE for random sampling.

fix

SELECT * FROM large_table TABLESAMPLE BERNOULLI(10); -- 10% sample

Why this works

The BERNOULLI and SYSTEM methods require a percentage in [0, 100]. Values outside this range cause 2202H.

Version notes

Postgres 9.5+TABLESAMPLE syntax introduced in 9.5.

Sources

📚 Official docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/errcodes-appendix.html

📚 Feature docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-select.html#SQL-FROM

🔧 Source ref: Class 22 — Data Exception

Confidence assessment

✅ HIGH confidence

Standard SQLSTATE for TABLESAMPLE argument validation. Stable since 9.5.